Science

Rapidly melting Antarctic ice could affect oceans ‘for centuries’: Reports

It was reported that rapidly melting Antarctic ice was dramatically slowing down the flow of water through the world’s oceans. It could have a disastrous effect on global climate, the marine food chain, and even the stability of ice shelves, new research says. The “overturning circulation” of the oceans, driven by the movement of denser water towards the sea floor, helps deliver heat, carbon, oxygen, and vital nutrients around the globe.

March 30, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

Pakistan records 150 fresh Covid-19 cases

Pakistan has registered one death in the last 24 hours by Covid-19, pushing the nationwide tally of fatalities to 30,648. According to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan reported 150 fresh cases of Covid-19 during the past 24 hours. The number of confirmed positive cases has surged to 1,578,918.

March 24, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

Marburg virus pervades Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea

It emerged that the deadly Marburg virus reached Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea, with a total of 17 cases confirmed in the countries. Marburg virus, which can cause internal bleeding and kidney failure, can kill about nine in 10 of those infected, based on previous outbreaks. Nine people are confirmed to have contracted the virus in Equatorial Guinea, where the WHO has deployed assessment teams.

March 23, 2023By Uncategorized, , Read more...

Pakistan records uptick in daily COVID-19 cases

Pakistan is witnessing another surge in Covid-19 cases as 171 confirmed cases were reported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the past 24 hours. According to the stats, the new infections were detected after 4,917 coronavirus diagnostic tests performed across the country, which placed Pakistan’s positivity ratio at 2.70%.

March 17, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

Space scientist Maggie Pocock becomes Barbie Role Model

Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock became Barbie’s Role Model for encouraging girls to become scientists. British media reported that Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, known for presenting shows "The Sky at Night", was honoured with a Barbie doll ahead of International Women’s Day and British Science Week from March 10 to March 19. The doll’s starry dress is like that of the night sky and has a telescope accessory for star gazing.

March 9, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

US drugmaker Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices

US drugmaker Eli Lilly and Company announced that it was slashing prices of its most commonly-prescribed insulins by 70 percent. Lilly said it would cut the price of its non-branded insulin to $25 a vial from May 1. It will also cut the price of Humalog, the company's most commonly-prescribed insulin and Humalin injections by 70 percent towards the end of the year.

March 1, 2023By Uncategorized, , Read more...

Pakistan reports two Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours

Pakistan has recorded two Covid-19-related deaths and 42 fresh Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours, sources reported quoting the National Institute of Health (NIH). According to the statistics issued by NIH, a total of 5,019 Covid-19 diagnostic tests were conducted, of which 42 samples came back positive.

February 25, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

Two-day pharma and healthcare expo kickstarts

Lahore: Pak Pharma and Healthcare expo in collaboration with the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) kickstarted at the Expo Centre. Ethiopian ambassador to Pakistan Jamal Baker, honorary consul general Ibrahim Tawwab, Shazoor Pharmaceutical Group CEO Mian Asad Shujaur Rehman and representatives of more than 100 pharmaceutical companies participated in the expo.

February 16, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

‘4,000 children trained through Health Champion program’: Report

Lahore: Director General (DG) Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Mudassir Riaz Malik noted that four thousand children were given awareness in choosing nutritious food to remain healthy through Health Champion Programme. While on a visit to a school along with Olympian Arshad Nadeem, he said, "Children’s height, weight, body mass index (BMI), lean and skeletal muscle mass, and nutrition screening will be conducted in the schools."

January 10, 2023By UncategorizedRead more...

AKUH confirms 6 cases of Omicron sub-variant XBB

The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) confirmed on Wednesday the detection of six coronavirus cases belonging to the highly-contagious Omicron subvariant category XBB in Karachi. “We have detected six cases, however, others have been found around the country,” AKUH Infectious Diseases Section Head Dr. Faisal Mehmood let out. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the XBB is a highly contagious subvariant of Covid-19’s Omicron strain.

January 4, 2023By Uncategorized, Read more...

PM directs immediate COVID vaccination of children

Islamabad: Expressing satisfaction over the COVID-19 situation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, directed the authorities concerned to ensure the vaccination of children aged 5-12 years on an urgent basis. He also instructed the officials to further improve screening at border points as well as airports. Moreover, he sought a report on a third-party evaluation of the screening process.

January 3, 2023By Uncategorized, , Read more...

Sindh writes letter to NCOC for corona testing 

The Sindh Health Department wrote a letter to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) to make the corona test mandatory for all passengers coming from China. The letter states, "The passengers should be tested again on arrival at Karachi Airport. If they are positive for corona, they will be quarantined."

December 29, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Sri Lankan students arrive in Pakistan for higher studies

Twenty-six more Sri Lankan students arrived in Pakistan to study in Pakistani universities at BS, MS, and Ph.D. levels under Allama Iqbal Scholarships for Sri Lankan Students. These scholarships are part of the comprehensive educational program entitled “Pakistan-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme (HEC). The Sri Lankan students will pursue their BS, MS, and Ph.D. studies in public sector universities in Pakistan.

December 27, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Extinction crisis puts 1 million species on the brink

Nature is in crisis, and it’s only getting worse. According to recent reports, species are vanishing at a rate not seen in 10 million years as more than 1 million species are currently on the brink. Humans are driving this extinction crisis through activities that take over animal habitats, pollute nature, and fuel global warming, scientists say. A new global deal to protect nature agreed on Dec. 19 has the potential to culminate the looming threat.

December 25, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

US announced breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy

US researchers have announced a historic nuclear fusion breakthrough, hailing a "landmark achievement" in the quest for a source of unlimited, clean power and an end to reliance on fossil fuels. Researchers use world's largest laser to create, for the first time, a fusion reaction that replicates the process that powers the Sun, a goal pursued by scientists for decades.

December 14, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

‘Polio will be eradicated from Pakistan by end of 2023’: Unicef

Unicef’s Regional Director for South Asia George Laryea-Adjei on Sunday stated that the polio program in Pakistan was back on track. He expressed hope that the crippling disease would be eradicated from the country by the end of 2023 following effective measures to check its spread. “We are using all available resources and services at our disposal to reach every girl and boy in Pakistan with lifesaving vaccines and protect them against the entirely preventable disease,” he said.

December 4, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Monkeypox to be renamed ‘mpox’: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Monday that Monkeypox was to be renamed ‘mpox’. Monkeypox received its name because the virus was originally identified in monkeys kept for research in Denmark in 1958, but the disease is found in a number of animals, most frequently in rodents. “When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings, and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO,” the UN health agency said in a statement.

November 28, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

Pakistan sees alarming rise in HIV cases

Islamabad: On Saturday, health authorities in the federal capital said that as many as 9,773 people tested positive for HIV in Pakistan during the last 10 months of 2022. “Every month, more or less 1,000 new HIV cases are being reported from all four provinces, capital Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan. This clearly indicates that HIV is now spreading to general population from the key populations including people who inject drugs, male, female and transgender sex workers,” an official of the National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination (NHSR&C) told The News.

November 26, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

China rolls out first inhalable COVID vaccine

  In what is believed to be a world's first, Shanghai, China's commercial capital, introduced a new type of COVID-19 vaccine that would be inhaled rather than administer via injection. In addition to this, these vaccines are approved by Chinese pharmaceutical firm "CanSino Biologics", for use as a booster in September. “Our body’s first line of defence is the mucus membrane of our respiratory system, we want that to be directly stimulated to improve immunity and using the inhaled vaccine does that,” Dr. Zhao Hui.

October 29, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

‘Wildlife populations plunge 69pc’: WWF

According to a report released by World Wide Fund, wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted nearly 70 percent in the last 50 years. Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said his organization was “extremely worried” by the new data. “[It shows] a devastating fall in wildlife populations, in particular in tropical regions that are home to some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world,” he said.

October 13, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Swedish scientist wins Nobel Prize in medicine

It emerged on Monday that Swedish scientist Svante Paabo has won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries “concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution”. “Through his pioneering research, Svante Paabo accomplished something seemingly impossible: sequencing the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans. He also made the sensational discovery of a previously unknown hominin, Denisova,” the Nobel committee said in a statement.

October 3, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Malaria spreading fast in flood-hit areas: Officials

Karachi: On September 21, officials stated that Malaria cases were rampant in Pakistan's flood-ravaged regions, with the death toll from diseases reaching 324. They also noted that the situation might get out of control if required aid did not arrive soon. The displaced families are exposed to swarms of mosquitoes and other hazards, such as snake and dog bites, they added.

September 21, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

“End of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight”: WHO chief

On September 14, the head of the World Health Organization said that the world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic. He also urged nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people. "We are not there yet. But the end is in sight," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

September 14, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Karachi reports 7 deaths from dengue fever

According to the Sindh Health Department, at least seven people had died due to dengue fever in the last 24 hours. A report issued by the provincial health department today said that in the last 24 hours, 113 new dengue cases were reported in Sindh, out of which 107 were from Karachi. In the metropolis, the highest number of cases were recorded in District East, followed by the Central, South, and Korangi districts.

September 12, 2022By Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Science, Read more...

Dengue outbreak pervades across Pakistan

As per the reports, Pakistan is continuing to register more and more dengue virus cases daily, with panic and fear spreading among the public as a shortage of fever medicines has also surfaced. Karachi reported another death from dengue virus in the last 24 hours, with over 2,000 people affected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after excessive rains. Punjab reported 125 new cases of the mosquito-borne disease. In Peshawar, the price of a leaf of fever pills has increased from Rs17 to Rs30.

September 11, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

Germany to drop COVID mask requirement

Berlin: On September 6, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced that Germany would soon drop mask requirements on commercial flights introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision came after flagship airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) complained that the rule was no longer enforceable. Authorities would focus instead on making sure people wear face-and-mouth coverings on public transport in Germany, Lauterbach added.

September 6, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...

CanSino’s COVID-19 vaccine gets emergency approval

Hong Kong: On Sept 4, China's CanSino Biologics Inc (6185.HK) said that its recently developed COVID-19 vaccine had been approved by the country's drug regulator for emergency use as a booster. "The approval will have a positive impact on the company's performance if the vaccine is subsequently purchased and used by relevant government agencies," CanSino said.

September 4, 2022By Uncategorized, Read more...

Covid-19 hits China’s tech hub

Shenzhen: On Sept 2, the main districts of Chinese tech hub Shenzhen shut down public transport and extended curbs on public activities as cities across China battled COVID-19 outbreaks. Six districts comprising the majority of the city's population of almost 18 million announced that all residents would be tested twice for COVID-19 over the weekend. Subway and bus services were also suspended.

September 2, 2022By UncategorizedRead more...